Chevron in EquateurThe accused corporation is US based Chevron (formerly Texaco), for the damages resulted from the extracting activities that have been carried out since 1964 in over 1,5 million hectares in the Ecuadorian Amazon.

¬†¬† The company admittedly spilled over 60 billion liters of toxic waste and approximately 650,000 barrels of oil in the area. The reparation, imposed by the Ecuadorean government, was carried out poorly, and resulted in a mere covering up which has had no effect on the damage and its negative effects, which still endure.

¬†¬† In the affected areas cancer rates are extraordinarily high, and the indigenous peoples, including the Tetetes and Sansahuari who previously lived in the area are now extinct, while the Cofanes, Sionas and Siekopai risk a similar fate, as they have fled to other regions.

¬†¬† Moreover, local farmers were left with infertile land, and lost their livestock, which is dying or has died due to the contamination.

¬†¬† In 2013 the Supreme Court of the Republic of Ecuador has condemned Chevron to pay 9,500 million dollars of damages, thus recognizing that the company's activities violate the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, the International Covenant of Civil and Political Rights, the International Covenant of Economic, Social and Cultural Rights, as well as the Constitution of the Republic of Ecuador which was the first in history to recognize the rights to nature.

Session of the Permanent People's Tribunal on Human Rights Violations Committed by the Transnationals,

Geneva 23 June 2014

Chevron in Equateur

Shell in Nigeria

Glencore in Philippines

Glencore in Zambia

Glencore in the Democratic Republic of the Congo

Lonmin in South Africa

Glencore in Perou

Glencore in Colombia

Pacific Rim El Salvador

Mekorot in Palestine

Coca-Cola in Colombia

Hidralia Energ√≠a in Guatemala

Disclaimer

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¬†¬† A number of cases of human rights violations by Transnational Corporations has been presented at the Permanent Peoples Tribunal (PPT) Hearing being held in Geneva on June 23. The one-day Hearing of the PPT is being prepared by The Global Campaign to Dismantle Corporate Power & Stop Impunity together with Swiss-based social organizations and movements, and affected communities from different global regions. The PPT is an Opinion Tribunal, which follows on the tradition of the Russell Tribunals on the Vietnam War and the Dictatorships in Latin America and was established in 1979 in the framework of the Algiers Universal Declaration of the Rights of Peoples.

¬†¬† The PPT has held almost 40 sessions addressing systematic violations of human rights and peoples rights including a Session on the World Bank, European TNCs in Latin America and Bhopal and it is one of few international institutions where affected communities can directly present cases of violations of human rights perpetrated by Transnational Corporations. (See http://www.internazionaleleliobasso.it)

¬†¬† Some of the cases that has been heard include Chevron in Ecuadorean Amazon, Shell in Nigeria, Glencore in several countries (such as the Philippines, Zambia, Democratic Republic of Congo, Peru and Colombia), Pacific Rim in El Salvador, Lonmin in South Africa, Coca-cola in Colombia, Mekorot in Palestine and Hidralia in Guatemala.